On this Veterans Day, it is important to honor all of our veterans for their service and sacrifices. Many people will not know that, prior to World War II, this day was called Armistice Day - in honor of the "war to end all wars" - World War I. Obviously, that designation was a misnomer.
As we sit in our comfortable offices and homes today, we should also reflect upon the terrible toll that wars inflict upon a country and its citizens. Today, the United States spends more on defense than any other country, and about five times more than China, which ranks second on the list of major defense spenders . According to a CNN news report by Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer [Defense spending: Slaying the sacred cow, July 11, 2010 ], at $689 billion this year, "defense spending it accounts for about 20% of the entire federal budget and it consumes up to 50% of the so-called discretionary budget, which pays for everything but entitlement programs and interest on the debt. In other words, all federal funding for education, infrastructure, transportation, the arts, and scientific research, to name a few."
We are currently fighting two misbegotten wars in which we are viewed as the invaders and in which we have little prospect of ending soon or achieving "favorable outcomes." In addition to the thousands of soldiers lost, physically injured or traumatized, hundreds of thousands of innocents have been killed and maimed. Economists such Columbia University professor and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz predict that these two wars will ultimately cost the U.S. taxpayers more than $4 trillion dollars when all costs, including long-term veterans care and disability payments are calculated.
Since conscription was ended after the Vietnam war, and the idea of an "all-volunteer" military gained favor, increasingly fewer Americans have been forced to decide, from a very personal perspective, their support for foreign military adventures. As our professional officer corps has increasingly become composed of the children of previous officers, and the ranks of enlisted soldiers increasingly beckon to men and women to whom our country has extended few other options, the concept of the citizen-soldier has begun to recede from the consciousness of Americans.The growth of the military-industrial complex about which President Eisenhower warned becomes more ominous.
War exacts a terrible toll on its perpetrators as well as its victims. We are all diminished as citizens and as human beings because of our indifference in the face of such horror. The best pledge that we can make to one another on this Veterans Day is to demand an end to our "welfare- through-warfare" economy. We need to bring our troops home and support international institutions that will promote ways to create a more peaceful future for all of God's creation.
Paul Nevins, conscript
United Sates Army, 1968-1970
As we sit in our comfortable offices and homes today, we should also reflect upon the terrible toll that wars inflict upon a country and its citizens. Today, the United States spends more on defense than any other country, and about five times more than China, which ranks second on the list of major defense spenders . According to a CNN news report by Jeanne Sahadi, senior writer [Defense spending: Slaying the sacred cow, July 11, 2010 ], at $689 billion this year, "defense spending it accounts for about 20% of the entire federal budget and it consumes up to 50% of the so-called discretionary budget, which pays for everything but entitlement programs and interest on the debt. In other words, all federal funding for education, infrastructure, transportation, the arts, and scientific research, to name a few."
We are currently fighting two misbegotten wars in which we are viewed as the invaders and in which we have little prospect of ending soon or achieving "favorable outcomes." In addition to the thousands of soldiers lost, physically injured or traumatized, hundreds of thousands of innocents have been killed and maimed. Economists such Columbia University professor and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz predict that these two wars will ultimately cost the U.S. taxpayers more than $4 trillion dollars when all costs, including long-term veterans care and disability payments are calculated.
Since conscription was ended after the Vietnam war, and the idea of an "all-volunteer" military gained favor, increasingly fewer Americans have been forced to decide, from a very personal perspective, their support for foreign military adventures. As our professional officer corps has increasingly become composed of the children of previous officers, and the ranks of enlisted soldiers increasingly beckon to men and women to whom our country has extended few other options, the concept of the citizen-soldier has begun to recede from the consciousness of Americans.The growth of the military-industrial complex about which President Eisenhower warned becomes more ominous.
War exacts a terrible toll on its perpetrators as well as its victims. We are all diminished as citizens and as human beings because of our indifference in the face of such horror. The best pledge that we can make to one another on this Veterans Day is to demand an end to our "welfare- through-warfare" economy. We need to bring our troops home and support international institutions that will promote ways to create a more peaceful future for all of God's creation.
Paul Nevins, conscript
United Sates Army, 1968-1970